Jan. 18, 2009
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish found themselves in a spot they haven’t been in since the end of October, trailing by two goals in a game. Somehow they battled back from 2-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits on Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena to forge a 3-3 tie. The Irish then picked up the extra point in the CCHA standings by winning the shootout, 2-1.
Notre Dame got goals from Ben Ryan, Erik Condra (shg) and Kevin Deeth (ppg) to offset Lake Superior goals by Steven Kaunisto (shg), Chad Nehring and Fred Cassiani (ppg). Billy Maday and Calle Ridderwall scored the goals in the shootout to give the Irish the win.
The Irish controlled large portions of the game, out shooting Lake Superior by a 35-14 margin. Jordan Pearce made 11 saves in the win while Pat Inglis (11) and Brian Mahoney-Wilson (21) combined for 32 saves on the night.
The tie/shootout win runs Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to 20 games (17-0-3) while ending the nine-game winning streak overall and on the road. The Irish are now 19-3-3 overall and 13-2-3-3 in the CCHA, good for 32 points in the league and seven points ahead of second-place Miami. The Lakers go to 6-10-8 overall and 3-7-6-1 in the CCHA.
The shootout win for the Irish was their third of the season against no losses.
The Lakers took their 2-0 lead in the first period, taking advantage of Notre Dame turnovers.
With the Irish on the power play, they could not control the puck at the blue line. Kaunisto jumped on the loose biscuit and raced down the ice, beating Pearce with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left wing circle at 12:03 for his second goal of the season.
The Lake Superior lead would go to 2-0 at 16:29 as defenseman Dillin Stonehouse intercepted an Ian Cole clearing attempt at the blue line and fed it behind the net to Dan Barczuk. The Laker left wing found Nehring all alone in front and he snapped a shot past Pearce for his fifth of the season.
Notre Dame answered back just one minute later when Ryan ripped a wrist shot from between the hash marks past Laker goaltender Pat Inglis. Defenseman Luke Lucyk moved the puck through the neutral zone to Ryan at the Lake Superior blueline. Ryan, moving at full speed used the defenseman as a screen to score his seventh of the year to cut the Laker lead to 2-1 after one period of play.
The Irish scored their short-handed goal to tie the game at 2-2 just 1:28 into the second period. With Billy Maday serving a minor penalty for interference, Pearce made a save with the rebound directed to Cole. The sophomore defenseman moved it ahead to Condra who carried from his own blue line to the Lakers zone where he split the defense and whipped a shot past Inglis for his sixth goal of the year and second short-handed marker of the year.
Condra’s goal chased Inglis in favor of Brian Mahoney-Wilson who took over in the Laker net.
Lake Superior would retake the lead at 8:50 with a power-play goal from Cassiani. The Lakers Simon Gysbers fired a shot that missed the net and came off the backboards to the right post. Cassiani was parked there and tucked the puck inside the right post for his 10th goal of the year and a 3-2 Laker lead.
Notre Dame finally tied the game at 13:15 with a power-play goal of its own. Deeth took a feed from Calle Ridderwall on the left side of the goal and swept a shot past Mahoney-Wilson for his fourth of the season to tie the game at 3-3.
The Irish would out shoot the Lakers 12-3 in the third period and overtime but could not score as the game ended after 65 minutes, tied, 3-3.
In the shootout, the Lakers shot first with Rick Schofield scoring on Pearce. Maday answered back by beating Mahoney-Wilson. Lake Superior’s Kaunisto would shoot second and hit the post. Ridderwall then scored on his shot and Pearce stopped Cassiani for the 2-1 shootout win.
Notre Dame returns home to a bye next weekend, Jan. 13-24. The Irish return to action the following week with a home-and-home series versus Michigan. The Wolverines come to town on Friday, Jan. 30 for an 8:05 p.m. game.
IRISH NOTES:
* Erik Condra’s short-handed goal gives him six for his career and moves him into a tie for fourth on Notre Dame’s all-time short-handed goal list with four other players.
* Calle Ridderwall and Billy Maday each scored their second shootout goals of the season for Notre Dame. The dynamic duo is 2-for-3 this season in shootouts.
* The 11 saves on the night were the fewest for Jordan Pearce this season. In 24 appearances this season, Pearce has given up three or more goals just four times with 20 appearances resulting in two goals or less.
* The Irish are now unbeaten in their last 10 road games (9-0-1) after dropping their first road game on Oct. 11 at Denver. For the year, Notre Dame is 9-1-1 on the road. The Irish also are now unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Lake Superior State (8-0-2).
GAME SUMMARY: 1 2 3 OT - F#1/#1 Notre Dame (19-3-3/13-2-3-3) 1 2 0 0 - 3Lake Superior (6-10-8/3-7-6-1) 2 1 0 0 - 3
First Period: LSSU: Steven Kaunisto 2 (unassisted), SHG, 12:03; LSSU: Chad Nehring 5 (Dan Barczuk, Dillin Stonehouse), 16:29; ND: Ben Ryan 7 (Luke Lucyk, Erik Condra), 17:29.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; LSSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: ND: Condra 6 (Ian Cole, Jordan Pearce), SHG, 1:28; LSSU: Fred Cassiani 10 (Simon Gysbers, Troy Schwab), PPG, 8:50; ND: Kevin Deeth 4 (Calle Ridderwall, Billy Maday), 13:15.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; LSSU: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; LSSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Overtime: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes; LSSU: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shootout: Goaltenders - ND: Pearce; LSSU: Mahoney-WilsonLSSU - Rick Schofield - GoalND - Billy Maday - GoalLSSU - Steven Kaunisto - Miss (hit post)ND - Calle Ridderwall - GoalLSSU - Fred Cassiania - SaveIrish win shootout, 2-1
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 12 - 11 - 10 - 2 - 35Lake Superior 4 - 7 - 3 - 0 - 14
Goaltender Saves:ND - Jordan Pearce (65:00) 2 - 6 - 3 - 0 - 11LSSU - Pat Inglis (21:28) 11 - 0 - x - x - 11 Brian Mahoney-Wilson x - 9 - 10 - 2 - 21
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 6LSSU: 1 for 4
Attendance: 2,468